The leader in the drivers’ standings not only claimed first place in the ranking of the fastest lap times, he also came out on top in the classification based on the second-fastest lap times. Thus, the 17-year-old junior driver of the Williams Formula 1 team will be allowed to start from pole position for the 17th and 18th race of the FIA Formula 3 European Championship season. Callum Ilott (Van Amersfoort Racing) ended up second from Nick Cassidy (Prema Powerteam) and Sérgio Sette Câmara (Motopark). In the ranking of the second-fastest laps, used to determine the starting grid positions of the third race of the weekend, Sette Câmara, Maximilian Günther (Prema Powerteam), and Cassidy followed pace-setter Stroll.

Starting grid race two

Lance Stroll (1:28.762 minutes) made it clear at an early stage already that he was eager to battle for pole position in second qualifying. With six minutes remaining, the Canadian moved up into first place, but his team-mate Maximilian Günther (1:28.927 minutes) toppled him some 90 seconds later. Stroll, however, countered and claimed back first place only a few moments later. Then, he went on to improve his own lap time and eventually ended up with a margin of 0.129 seconds from second-placed Callum Ilott (1:28.891 minutes). The Brit, in turn, managed to steal second place from Nick Cassidy (1:28.913 minutes) in the closing seconds of the session. Sérgio Sette Câmara (1:28.914 minutes), who made his Formula 1 debut earlier this week, also dropped back from second to fourth within two minutes in the closing stages. Maximilian Günther ended up fifth from rookie drivers Anthoine Hubert (Van Amersfoort Racing, 1:29.017 minutes), David Beckmann (kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport, 1:29.087 minutes) and Ralf Aron (Prema Powerteam, 1:29.096 minutes). Alessio Lorandi (Carlin, 1:29.107 minutes) and George Russell (HitechGP, 1:29.121 minutes) rounded out the top ten.

Starting grid race three

In the classification of the second-fastest laps, Lance Stroll (1:28.781 minutes) also came out on top. Sérgio Sette Câmara (1:28.927 minutes) ended up second ahead of Maximilian Günther (1:28.966 minutes), who is runner-up in the drivers’ standings. In fourth place, Nick Cassidy managed to keep the fastest rookie driver David Beckmann (1:29.118 minutes) at bay. Alessio Lorandi (1:29.123 minutes), George Russell (1:29.205 minutes), Joel Eriksson (Motopark, 1:29.243 minutes), Callum Ilott (1:29.305 minutes) and Ralf Aron (1:29.360 minutes) rounded out the top ten.

Lance Stroll (Prema Powerteam): “I am really happy with my double pole position. My car was really great and I was able to complete two fast laps in a row. Both were also very similar in terms of lap times. The fact that I managed to do so after first qualifying didn’t go too well is making me happy. Even though the two pole positions are great, of course, I haven’t achieved anything with them, so now, I will prepare for the races tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, because that is where the points are attributed.”